Woven by Night
by NaturallyWild
Summary: A multi-chapter fanfic about what I think should happen to Bryn and Cedar Ridge after Taken by Storm. With new discoveries about werewolves popping up, and hordes of new villains, plus Devon turning on her, how can Bryn survive unharmed? Raised by Wolves belongs totally and completely to Jennifer Barnes, but I do take credit for Woven by Night's ideas and plot.
1. Chapter 1

I cringed, feeling every injury burn ferociously as I struggled upright. Callum had Changed me, bringing me to the brink so that I could be reborn as a Were. My inner wolf prowled the recesses of my mind, checking on the pack members even as I felt the least serious of my wounds already healing, fading from sight. How long had it been? Callum was definitely not around, but my main priority now was getting home before anyone knew I was missing. Everything could be explained in the morning.

Above, a faint glow tinged the horizon—dawn was fast approaching. Sighing, I flopped back down. I wouldn't make it back before people noticed, wouldn't get back to Maddy and Ali and Lake before they noted my absence. The Weres might already have discovered that I was missing. I felt each and every member of my pack—but not Eric, or Chase, or Jed. We'd lost all three in dealings with Shay—and Devon as well. My best friend had gone on to kill his brother and become alpha of the Snake Bend pack, but his absence was felt just as much as Chase's. Perhaps more.

No one was feeling particularly worried, though. Not yet. I had distracted my mind long enough, and now the wounds Callum had inflicted were throbbing loud and clear. My body would ache in either form, wolf or human—no point in Shifting. Still, I had a desire to Shift, to experience the world through the eyes of a wolf.

Bones cracked and groaned dangerously as I Shifted. Each injury seemed to increase tenfold as my body was put under the maximum amount of pressure allowable, but then it all went away. Oh, my injuries still hurt, but the main thing for me—for my wolf—now was getting back to the others, protecting them, leading them. Pack was everything to a Were, and for me the necessity of being with the pack was probably much bigger. I was their alpha, after all.

Ignoring Ali's idling truck, I stretched out my muscles experimentally. The need to take care of Cedar Ridge was exponentially increasing every second I spent away from them—the pack was more than everything to an alpha. It was their entire life, everything they hoped and dreamed for. Most Weres longed to be close to their alpha, and now I was finding out the reverse was true as well.

Taking in shaky breaths—I had never really expected this, no matter how much I wanted it to happen—I padded away from the border. It smelled far to strongly of Callum and Stone River, and my senses were telling me to bow my head to a much more dominant alpha and fight for everything I've got. Everything seemed so much more… powerful now that I was a true Were. The urge to stay alpha, the feeling that there only should ever be one leader; it was all increased. Every sense was heightened—even when I was still in human form, I had noticed little things I'd never noticed before.

Lengthening my stride into a jog, and then to a run, I headed for home. Where my pack lay, where my destiny lay. Ali's truck could be picked up later—all that mattered now was getting to my pack.


	2. Chapter 2

Despite all my injuries, it was a fast trip back home—in part, fueled by the obvious fact that I could only protect my pack if I was nearby, and alphas protected their pack above all else. After all, the strength of the alpha is the strength of the pack. I wondered what everyone would think of their newly "updated and revised" alpha. I was the same person, but even now, even so soon after my Changing, I knew that what Callum had done would continue to affect me and Cedar Ridge.

Normally Devon or Chase would be the first to be alerted to an intruder. But Devon was alpha of Snake Bend now, and even though we'd been close friends before, there was only ever supposed to be one alpha, one pack. We would have worked closely together, defending both our packs from any and all threats—but whatever I had felt in relation to Weres before was now ten times increased. It'd felt dangerous to be in a room with several other alphas, and I'd only been human then.

So it was Lake who found me, Lake who trotted up curiously. I was definitely not foreign, but to Lake, she had no idea who I was. Maybe a niggling suspicion, but that was all. I'd been careful to block off my mind before I'd left; most Weres couldn't sense their alpha's thoughts, but Cedar Ridge members were different. We'd always been different. Devon, Lake, Chase, and me—I'd essentially created a four-person pack in a much larger one. It probably wasn't common, or even known of—but then again, Changing people into Weres was once rare too.

_Lake? _I called, finally opening up my mind to just her, to just my first pack. The people I trusted to take over if anything happened. And Lake was the last one. Chase was dead, Devon was gone. I had to accept that.

"Bryn?" she answered back, hesitantly. Warily. Lake studied me, automatically reaching for a gun. Matilda, probably. But Lake's guns were wired to injure Weres, and most were loaded with silver. I couldn't let her shoot me, or I would be dead quite soon.

_Don't, _my wolf snarled, knowing she would have to obey the alpha despite my not giving orders on a regular basis. I quickly followed my inner wolf's order up with my own explanation. _Lake, it's me. Bryn. _Lake was stunned. She'd dropped the weapon as soon as I had ordered her to—orders usually never came out of my mouth, though. So it wasn't until my last words that comprehension had dawned on her face.

"Callum… Changed you?" she asked softly, for the first time noticing all my wounds, the smaller ones fading quickly. "Oh, Bryn…"

Okay, now this was starting to get a little weird. From sharing my mind with Chase's, I knew that Weres in their wolf forms lost pieces of their humanity, forgetting who they were as humans. But it didn't seem to be happening to me—maybe alphas kept all of their humanity, and their wolfishness, and somehow combined it?

"Ali's been so worried. She woke up to check the twins, and decided to look in on you. But you weren't there," Lake explained, while I cursed. I knew that I wouldn't be able to get back before anyone noticed I was gone, but I had hoped it would be Maddy, perhaps, or Lake. One of the new men Devon had sent me. Someone that wouldn't send out search parties to look for me; someone who either trusted me enough to know that I knew what I was doing, or someone who wouldn't dare intrude upon an alpha's private business.

She turned to look behind her. I narrowed my eyes, seeing Ali run into view. "Callum Changed her, Ali," Lake explained softly when Ali spotted me. I decided to risk it and Shifted back, bones creaking. My wounds hurt more, now—something I'd forgotten in the few hours it took me to jog back.

Wordlessly Ali pulled off her long jacket, offering it to me. I hurriedly wrapped myself in the cloth, shivering. Apparently my foster mom would take care of me first before yelling at me. I could easily tell her not to make a fuss about it, and she would have to obey a direct order. But… this was my mom here. I could not do that to her.

"Where's my car?" she demanded, looking around.

"Back by the border," I pointed behind me, already feeling Ali's anger start up. I cringed, hurriedly informing every pack member that no matter what they had felt or would soon feel, I was alright, and that they were expressly forbidden to come find me.

No need for anyone to see Ali yelling at me. Lake and Maddy, and a few of the other younger members, were fine. But Devon's former pack members would take Ali down, I was sure, if she was "threatening" me. Even if I prohibited them from doing it, the need to protect their females might override the order. I couldn't let Ali be hurt because of her carrying out her "motherly duties".


	3. Chapter 3

"So, you not only just up-and-left my car at the border of a werewolf pack, you also had to get Callum to Change you?" Ali demanded, her voice a mix between worry and anger—and the concern was fading fast. Lake was sidling away, obviously not wanting to get caught in this. "God, Bryn. You could've been killed—you nearly were," she added, glancing up and down my injured body.

_Lake, go tell the others that I'll be home soon. Don't say a word about my Changing, though. I want to announce it without anyone knowing about it first. _Lake nodded courteously at me and Ali, then Shifted and loped off. _And don't tell anyone I'm in trouble with Ali!_ I yelled after her, telepathically. She sent me a reassuring message of understanding and obedience as she raced out of sight.

"Yeah, well. That's what you need done in order to be Changed," I muttered sarcastically. Ali simply raised an eyebrow.

"So, you basically went and asked Callum to Change you," Ali stated, laying out the facts quite clearly. "Bryn, why?"

"Look, I couldn't let any of Cedar Ridge suffer again and again and again, just because I wasn't strong or capable enough," I retorted, suddenly feeling angry at this confrontation, though I of course had expected it to come sooner or later. "Lucas, Maddy, Chase—" my voice nearly broke on his name, but I fought back the deep sorrow—"Jed… Sooner or later, everyone else would've been hurt. Because I wasn't to be feared like the other alphas, because people didn't think of me as powerful enough to stop all… this." I waved helplessly at my surroundings. "Being an alpha is all about protecting your pack, but I couldn't manage even that," I concluded bitterly. I was the natural alpha, the most dominant in my pack—but that had meant nothing when it came to saving those I loved.

"You didn't have to do it, Bryn. There must be hundreds—no, _thousands_ of ways to get stronger," Ali replied. She had no idea, truly. Like me, she was living with werewolves. Unlike me, though, she hadn't grown up with them, had never really understood what it was like for me. She _definitely_ wasn't alpha material.

"Ali, please understand. Even the strongest human couldn't go up against Lucas—and he was pitifully weak. I couldn't do it before, and even with years of hard training, I still probably couldn't do it." At least this all was happening after the actual event, not before. Before, Ali would've done her best to stop me from going. Now? Now, she really couldn't do anything about it. I was Were now, and even Changed Weres can't go back to being human. Even before my Changing, I'd been partially Were. Now it was just solidified.

"I'm trying to understand why someone who should be pleased with where she was had to go ahead and make a desperate attempt to get even higher," a low voice called out, ringing through the trees. I stiffened. _Mitch._ Lake's dad and the oldest werewolf in my pack. The guy with the most experience, and, now that Devon was gone, would probably go up to be my second—the person I most trusted, the person that was strongest and often advised the alpha. Lake was too… flinch-y of male Weres to ever want to go to Senate meetings, my second or no. Maddy had enough trouble dealing with her newborn daughter. I didn't exactly know any of Devon's former pack members that well, and none of the semi-older Weres would ever want to become second. They just didn't have the talent that it took.

Mitch strolled casually into sight, just walking straight out of the trees. "I came with Ali," he explained briefly. "She borrowed my truck, so… I felt it would be best if I came along." I _had_ been wondering how Ali had gotten here, this far out from the Wayfarer. "Bryn, you do realize that Callum could be killed for this, right? According to Senate laws, any werewolf who attacks a human should be punished."


	4. Chapter 4

I know chapters are kinda short at the moment… they'll get longer, though. Eventually. Please read and review, and thanks for reading!

_ According to Senate laws, any werewolf who attacks a human should be punished. _Mitch's words repeated themselves endlessly in my head, jarring my notion of reality. _You _do_ realize Callum could be killed for this, right?_

I paused, reaching out for Ali unsteadily. She glanced sorrowfully at me, but did nothing to comfort her foster daughter. I understood. Ali pretty much hated Callum for ordering Sora to beat me, to let it happen without doing anything to save me. I knew it was because I had broken Pack law, disobeyed the rules Callum had set down if I was to see Chase. I'd accepted it and gotten over it. Ali, apparently, still hadn't. But for all that, Callum was the one who had protected me from Wilson, saved me and Marked me and brought me into the pack.

Ali didn't really want Callum to die, I knew that. Even if she'd killed her own mother, Ali definitely was not a killer. But… what with Sora's beating, and now my Changing, Ali hated Callum fiercely. I saw the truth in her eyes, confirmed it with her feelings. Ali wasn't my biological mother, but she was the only mother I had. And right now, her protective mode wanted the all-seeing alpha to die.

Ali would calm down, sooner or later. Right now I had to deal with the possible consequences of my Changing. "Mitch?" I repeated, staring into his eyes. _Ordering_ him to tell me it wasn't true, through my own gaze.

But Mitch was old enough, and experienced enough, to throw off the faux order. Verbal/mental ones were best—not ones that had the alpha pleading for the best member in her pack to outright lie.

"It's to preserve our culture, our heritage," Mitch explained gently. "If a Were knows he'll most likely die when he attacks a human… well, normally he'll stay far away from that idea. So the Senate created this law."

"I-I didn't think…" I whispered, my throat dry.

"Well, no, you didn't," Mitch continued, his tone light. Only teasing, but it did hold an edge of steel. "As usual. But, Bryn, if it's any consolation… Callum probably saw this in the future when he decided to Change you. He's probably already set up protection, safe-guards…"

The Senate might very well try to kill Callum. He opposed just about everything they came up with when it came to me, and he's undoubtably the best alpha. He could combine all the packs in a heartbeat, if he so wished. Sora would take his place, as his second, but… well, the Senate had already showed reluctance to allowing me to become an alpha. Sora could probably be taken out. Females were to be protected, not to be obeyed—too many were opposed to me, and it would be worse for her. Two female alphas would surely be too much for them to accept.

And after Sora… there were just too many possible candidates for her second, and next alpha. Callum's pack was strong. In all of the fighting that would be sure to follow after Sora was killed, one of the other alphas could easily step up and take control of the situation. Combining Callum's pack with someone else's, _anyone_ else's, would mean trouble. For Cedar Ridge, and possibly for Snake Bend as well.

A pack twice as large… the alpha would be even stronger. Shay was dead, but I still had several unmated females in Cedar Ridge. Any alpha, besides Devon, would kill to get his hands on that. Devon might turn corrupt too—who knew what an alpha, born and raised Were, would do to get his hands on such power? I hoped Devon wouldn't turn, but the chance of increasing his strength… Purebred werewolves like Devon were rare—natural-born females were very few, probably less than five in the entire region. And Changed females didn't occur often, if at all before Wilson had started his work. Females Weres gave birth easier, were much less vulnerable, and their children were much stronger than the usual Were. Purebreds made the pack stronger, and every alpha wanted a stronger pack.

I wanted a stronger pack as well, enough Weres to let it be known to all that Cedar Ridge was not a pack to be messed with. Shay had been the main force causing all of our troubles—but, for the most part, the other alphas had supported him. But I would never rule over Callum's pack, dead alpha or no. In, perhaps, several dozen years, my females would choose mates, and give birth to purebreds. It would only take a few years or so before the purebreds grew up, and added to the pack's strength.

"Bryn?" Mitch asked, quietly. "Are you… okay?"

I responded sarcastically, the default mode that I'd had for most of my life. "The Senate didn't much care about Wilson, did they? They didn't care when he was attacking so many. So why the hell should they care now?"

"They have… been wanting to bring Callum down for years, Bryn. This is a welcome opportunity for the Senate. Taking him out would mean a chance to get at his pack—probably one of the largest, and definitely among the strongest. To get at you, also." Mitch stared off into the distance, his face calm.

"I'm calling in Phoebe, and Sage, and Jackson. The peripherals. I know they're still with their families… but right now I can't risk it. Short-term visits only, until we know what the Senate is planning. If Callum's…" I couldn't say it, but I must, I had to accept every possibility, every consequence of my being Changed. "If the Senate kills him, then we have to be careful. I can't risk Cedar Ridge being lost in the storm."


End file.
